Cricket’s DLS method inventor Tony Lewis passes away

London: Tony Lewis, the former university lecturer better known for one of the most complex rules of cricket — the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method which is used in rain-affected matches, died at the age of 78.

“It is with much sadness that the ECB has learned of the
passing of Tony Lewis MBE, aged 78,” ECB said in a statement.

“Tony, alongside fellow mathematician Frank Duckworth,
devised the Duckworth-Lewis method which was introduced in 1997 and adopted
officially by the ICC (International Cricket Council) in 1999.

“Renamed the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method in 2014, the
mathematical formula continues to be used in rain reduced limited overs cricket
games across the globe.”

An unlikely star of world cricket, Lewis was propelled to
fame in 1999 when his complex formula, devised in conjunction with his fellow
mathematician Frank Duckworth, was officially adopted by the governing body to
help calculate fair run-chases in the event of overs being lost to rain during
the 1999 World Cup.

The impact duo had on the sport is best illustrated by
the problems that rain delays had caused until they came forward with their
algorithmic solution in the mid 1990s. Their calculations may have baffled
generations of cricket lovers over the past two decades, but they have been
universally recognised as the best solution yet devised to the sport’s most
intractable problem.

Lewis received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British
Empire) for his services to cricket and mathematics